Former KIPP CEO Michael Feinberg Is Now President of a Nonprofit That Doesn’t Exist

August 23, 2019

As noted in the August 22, 2019, Houston Chronicle, KIPP charter school chain co-founder Michael Feinberg is suing KIPP for defamation related to his 2017 firing related to allegations of sexual misconduct.

According to the article, Feinberg’s goal is to clear his name.

Also according to the article, Feinberg has been supposedly working for a nonprofit that he co-founded, Texas School Venture Fund (TXSVF):

These days, Feinberg is president of the Texas School Venture Fund, a nonprofit that aims to start new schools in places where the demand for high-quality schools doesn’t meet the supply.

Except that the IRS has no record of such a nonprofit. No “Texas School Venture Fund.” No “TXSVF.”

The Texas Secretary of State (TX SOS) has a record of an Texas business called Texas School Venture Fund (TX state ID # 32062804300; TX file # 0802642699), which was registered on 02/06/17 and is located at 3900 ESSEX LN STE 1200 HOUSTON, TX 77027-5486, the same address listed on the TXSVF website— the site that identifies Feinberg as TXSVF co-founder and also calls TXSVF “a 501(c)3 Non-Profit organization that exists to increase the supply and diversity of great schools.”

The registered agent for TXSVF is Duncan McCrann, who is also listed with the TX SOS as the “board CEO.” The only other name listed is Michael Barnhart, who is associated with two nonprofits using the Essex Lane address, the Center for Opportunity Urbanism (EIN 47-2241225) and Subsidiary Institute/ Competitive Governance Institute (EIN 20-5792227).

The individual who supposedly co-founded “nonprofit” TXSVF with Feinberg is Leo Linbeck III, who is listed on the board of both of the actual nonprofits listed above and sharing the Essex Lane address.

The TXSVF website also has a “donate” page, which includes the following message:

Thank you for considering a gift. Texas School Venture Fund is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, and your gift is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

So, individuals who think that they are donating to TXSVF are actually donating to the Catholic School Renaissance Institute because the TXSVF website is leading them to believe so.

That’s called fraud.

According to the IRS, the Catholic School Renaissance Institute was granted nonprofit status on February 06, 2017 (the same day that TXSVF filed with the TX SOS). The contact person is identified as one “Jo A Christmas.”

As for tax filings: the Catholic School Renaissance Institute has two “e-card” filings, for 2016 and 2017, indicating that the principal officer is Carl Oberg of Falcon Heights, Minnesota. For 2016 and 2017, the organization’s gross receipts was $50K or less.

According to his Linkedin bio, Duncan McCrann is the “founder and CEO at the Catholic School Renaissance Institute” since “July 2016 to present.” The mission is described as follows:

The mission of The Catholic School Renaissance Institute is to advance the rejuvenation of urban, Catholic education by connecting the many highly effective organizations that are working separately in cities across America. The Institute will eliminate the information void among the teams of people working to preserve or expand urban, Catholic education through communication, network building, and convening. It will be a conservator of relevant studies and best practices in the sector.

Also according to McCrann’s Linkedin bio, he was president and COO of KIPP Houston from March 2008 to January 2011.

So, what we have here is a fake nonprofit (TXSVF) that is fraudulently soliciting donations using the EIN of another nonprofit (Catholic Renaissance) operated by a former KIPP COO (McCrann) whose name is kept behind the scenes on the fake nonprofit website and who is associated with two other nonprofits operating from the same Essex Lane address, and the one who supposedly co-founded the fake nonprofit (Feinberg) is not named anywhere except on the fake nonprofit’s website.

Being president of a scam organization certainly complicates the goal of “clearing one’s name.”

“where the demand does not meet the supply [from the Chronicle article quoted above.]” Wait, what, this guy’s mission is to build schools where they are not needed? A Freudian slip, indeed! The writer most likely meant to say: where the supply does not meet the demand.